BusinessDay 30 Mar 2018

3
BUSINESS DAY
Friday 30 March 2018WOMEN’S HUB
Are there more
independent women
at the top?
KEMI AJUMOBI
Career climb is an uphill task
with any woman in a marriage
setting. The women,
who manage to attain their career
goals, must have had understanding,
supportive and confident
husbands. Many independent
women have no shackles that limit
their strides. Also, many men are
late bloomers. Another angle to
look at it is this, sex still sells, and
many women who are married
are considered by some men who
would have assisted them as of
no sexual benefit. They therefore
believe that the assistance they
would extend to them will be
‘wasted’.
Culturally, certain men still
come from the valley of male
dominance. So any sparks of
ambition from their spouses, that
would make them “look like” (because
it’s not true) they are not the
head of the home is vehemently
resisted. Many men are dependent
on their wives to manage the
home, and that means if she has
to pursue her ambitions, one thing
may have to give way. However,
in most cases, it’s not the man’s
choice. Many of the men who believe
women don’t deserve to be
in places of authority, are the same
one who don’t want to spend so
much on training the girl child.
Such men, with the collaboration
of the kinds of women they marry,
think being married to a man is
the ultimate goal of a woman.
Finally, many men believe
money is power. They therefore
begin to think that when a woman
has it, she will take your power as
the man from you. There is also
the issue of child bearing. Many
independent women either did
not have kids early, or did but
parted ways with their partner
IWOW network hosts 8th global possibilities summit
It was indeed three days of
wow-mazing experience, at the
just concluded annual IWOW
Global Possibilities Summit held
at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lagos,
Nigeria, on the 23rd and 24th of
March 2018.
The summit started with a preevent
cocktail with exceptional
women of worth in attendance. The
Publisher of Genevieve Magazine,
Betty Irabor, shared her deeply
touching story about how she decided
to pick herself up and turn
her life around after a very difficult
experience.
Day 1 of the summit was a day of
learning how to deliberately ‘walk
on water’ in life, business, career
and other spheres of life. The theme
of the 2018 Global Possibilities
Summit is “It’s Showtime” and all
the speakers came out with their
stories that affirmed the fact that
there is power in one’s authentic
story.
The CEO/Vice Chair, Fine
and Country WA and Founder of
IWOW, Udo Okonjo shed more
light on what the 2018 theme
represented. Showtime, she said
is a state of realisation. The state
ATUNYOTA ALLELUYA AKPOBOME (ALIBABA)
Ace Comedian, Content Originator, Writer
before facing their careers headon.
This may either be a hostile
parting or amicable one but,
whichever happens, can be a
major factor in the career climb
of any woman.
Another angle to look at it is
pregnancy. To be pregnant may
not be the issue an independent
woman needs to deal with but
if she is married, and she has
not had a child in the maritial
space she is in, it can mess up
her productivity. Midweek services,
night vigils, prayer meetings,
special Holy Ghost services
of deliberately stepping out of the
ordinary into the extraordinary
through self-discovery, success and
sustainability.
Leke Alder, Principal Partner,
Alder Consulting, gave a masterclass
on branding; how to craft a
niche market and using uniquely
defined branding strategies that
will resonate with the target audience.
A panel discussion followed
where Udo Okonjo, Leke Alder and
Ada Osakwe shared real-life experiences
and strategies they have used
in their various fields to present a
strong and sustainable brand.
Following on from building
great business structures and
and more, just to fulfil marital
pressures of having a baby is also
involved. Especially when she has
started “running out of eggs”... as
the in-laws will remind the son
regularly. Some women actually
prefer partners who don’t have
either parent. They prefer them
dead. That way, no in-law hassles.
All that said, the X factor is actually
the man. The man is the one who
either supports his wife to succeed
like the independent woman, by
giving her all the encouragement
needed, just as the independent
ladies get.
kicking off the second session on
entrepreneurship, Fabian Ajogwu
(SAN), Founding Partner, Kenna
Partners & Professor of Corporate
Governance at Lagos Business
School, talked about the legal aspects
of doing business in Nigeria.
Tara Fela Durotoye, CEO, House
of Tara honed on the fact that your
passion for your business needs to be
backed with efficient working structures,
processes and procedures.
The third and final session of
the day was about Confidence
and Power Negotiation which was
anchored by Nneka Abulokwe who
gave a straight-from- the-heart intelligent
treatise of her journey to
Women are great thinkers
with innate multitasking
abilities that help them
do different things at the same
time with little or no errors in the
desired results.
Women have all it takes to get
to the top in any organisation,
including the ability to identify
and appropriately address what
could constitute hindrances to
their ascension to the position of
their dreams.
If one of these obstacles happens
to be an irrational, insecure,
uncompromising and unsupportive
male in her life, she might
be pushed by that behavioural
pattern to go around it somehow
and move on to the top.
Let me hasten to add that the
married ones who are there, either
have great men giving them the
moral support to excel or have to
exercise patience and tolerance
that are out of this world to stay
focused and succeed in life.
I
wonder if there are statistics to prove
that. With associations like WIMBIZ,
we now have myriad examples of
married women who have made it to
the top with their marriages intact! However,
it is clear that through the journey,
it isn’t easy and may strain marriages
to the extent that women may have to
sacrifice that for their career. The strain
ADESUWA ONYENOKWE
Publisher/Editor in Chief,
TW Magazine
the top of a fortune 500 company
in the United Kingdom through
the power of resilience, persistence
and strategic negotiation.
Day 1 was capped up with another
brilliant panel discussion by the
speaker and renowned Media Entrepreneurs
including Biola Alabi
and Ola Brown- Founder/ CEO,
Flying Doctors Nigeria.
Day 2 morning was a Wealth
and Wellbeing Breakfast Session
hosted by Fine & Country and
Providus Bank. The session was
opened with Udo Okonjo sharing
the fundamental elements of wellbeing
& wealth creation and the
direct relationship between both
concepts. Walter Akpani- MD/CEO
of Providus Bank shared his professional
experience on the need
for Women to develop the qualities
of Teamwork, Tenacity and
Entrepreneurial spirit, whilst also
charging delegates to come into
their spotlight. Renowned beauty
entrepreneur Eryca Freemantle
shared about surviving depression
and making the decision to rise
above it and live a phenomenal
life. Arinola Adeniyi, CEO, Venivici
Spa, spoke about the importance of
YOUGKEH TAMFUH ROSE
Former Adviser to Cameroon’s
Ministers of Finance and
Economy; Planning and Regional
Development.
CEO, REO Consulting
could result from long work hours,
greater financial independence on the
women’s side, which could make them
less tolerant of misdemeanours, and
husband’s less understanding. One
can make these conclusions because
most women who get to the top always
acknowledge the support from their
spouses.
Former Adviser to Cameroon’s
Ministers of Finance and
Economy; Planning and Regional
Development.
CEO, REO Consulting
wellness in wellbeing and Travelstart
Commercial Manager, Bukky
Akomolafe was there to add to the
fact that, getting away so often for
some self-love and replenishment
is important for mental wellbeing.
Travelstart also sponsored a trip
to Dubai.
The morning session ended
with Ndidi Nwuneli and the millennials
taking centre stage to tell the
whole world they are coming and
they know exactly what is required
of them to get exponential results.
It featured inspirational stories by
Seun Awolowo and Kene Rapu to
wrap up the morning session.
The IWOW Global Possibilities
Summit 2018 was crowned with
an exquisite dinner with inspiring
and thought-provoking keynote
speeches from the MD of Seplat,
Austin Avuru and Fela Durotoye.
There was also inspiring spoken
word performance by Bikiya and
comedy by Senator.
Also, the presence of amazing
comperes Bolanle Olakuni, Chico
and Stephanie Coker who gave
their professional skills in adding
colour to the event, made it worth
every minute.